…and Lee Doran is not alone. It seems that a lot of people are upset about the “Story of Stuff”…really smart people too! I’ll admit right here that Lee Doran and Annie Leonard are both smarter than I am, so I’, not going to argue their facts…so instead I pose the question, what are they afraid of? Clearly they are both written as attacks, so what is it specifically that they are attacking?

Annie Leonard’s thesis seems to be that we can’t just thoughtlessly and carelessly consume and dispose without taking the long-view of how it will affect our planet and our lives. She’s afraid that our current way of life will cause us to “trash the planet”.

Lee Doran’s thesis seems to be that we shouldn’t worry about how we consume and dispose. It seems that he’s telling us not to think about it and trust that the current system works. He’s afraid that we are teaching our kids to be afraid of buying Legos.

Wait…let me watch that again. Suddenly Annie Leonard’s thesis seems a whole lot stronger than Lee Doran’s. No it seems that his biggest concern is that we’ll start buying less stuff. I’m not sure if this would be a problem. Most kids I know would be fine with less toys. Most adults I know would be fine without a newest ipod. Why then is Lee Doran is so threatened by Annie Leonard?

Let’s look at worst case scenarios. In each case the worst case would be if the people of America (I believe that this is the target audience of each video) listened to the other person and the other person was dead wrong.

If everyone were to listen to Annie Leonard and it turns out that she’s wrong, this means that the earth will continue to support a lifestyle that we abandoned and that we’ve cleaned up the planet, taken greater care to support those with whom we share our planet, and take greater stewardship of our planet in general…FOR NO REASON!!! Basically if we follow Annie Leonard and she’s dead wrong, well…our planet is a better place to live and we become less obsessed with owning stuff.

compared to:

If everyone were to listen to Lee Doran and it turns out that he’s wrong, this means that the earth will not be able to support our lifestyle as we continue to trash the planet and fail to take responsibility for the planet and for those who share the planet with us, and we have doomed the planet…SO OUR CHILDREN CAN BUY LEGOS WITHOUT FEAR!!! Basically if we follow Lee Doran and she’s dead wrong, well…our planet is trashed because we couldn’t bring ourselves to be less stuff-centric.

It seems to me that people who argue against things like Climate Change and How Stuff Works because they feel that their lifestyle is threatened.

Perhaps climate change is a fiction, but how can it hurt to cut down on the toxins and emissions that we are putting into the environment? Perhaps How Stuff Works is ridiculous, but how can conservation of resources and stewardship of the planet hurt us?

Even if you don’t believe in climate change or anything that comes out of Annie Leonard’s mouth, I can’t think of a single reason why we should attack them? What’s so bad about taking care of the planet, even if it’s not in crisis as people claim it is?

What’s the worst case scenario if schoolchildren watch this video?

Yeah, they might think twice before they buy another box of Legos. Parents out there, would you have a problem with any educational program that taught this?

What’s the best case scenario if schoolchildren watch this video?

Perhaps, one of them will be inspired to find a way to allow you to continue your lifestyle to which you so desperately cling without actually doing harm to the planet.